The Forgetmenot
by AmberEye57
Summary: It's the first job they've had since... Miranda. Mal takes on some new cargo and, as always, the job turns out to be more interesting than he had initially planned. Post-Serenity. Mal & O/C. R&R.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The sun was setting on Persephone. The sky was a beautiful blue; and turned purple and pink where sky met horizon. Because it was dusk, the market was filled with people, all bustling to get to one place or other. Shopkeepers were closing their shops, counting their money, checking their wares. Mothers called after rambunctious children who zigzagged through the crowds, usually getting cursed at when passersby were jostled. Dust was kicked up by so many feet, getting in eyes and noses, and generally being a nuisance.

Dani took all of this in, but ignored it, because she had bigger issues. The men following her, for one. She glanced backwards and caught sight of them in the crowd easily. Len certainly hadn't been thinking when he sent out two of his biggest, toughest men looking for her. It was purely a show of force, to get her to step smartly for fear of what these brutes might do to her.

And they were brutish. One of them stood a full foot taller than anyone else in the crowd, while the other was short, around Dani's own five-four. But the short one made up for his lack of height in pure muscle. In fact, they were both well muscled, bald, with hard faces. Not exactly hard to pick out in a crowd. Which was about the only thing going for Dani at the moment.

She was incredibly hard to pick out in a crowd. And not just because she only stood at five-four and had a lean figure. There was almost nothing about her to catch your eye. She was pretty in a very average way, with brown, shoulder-length hair and amber eyes, nothing about her to make you remember her, and that was just the way she liked it. Thieves didn't last long if people could remember them.

She was also at an advantage because there were so many people out. As she padded quickly and silently through the crowd she picked pockets with ease, forming herself a new disguise even as she walked. A long, well-worn brown duster, slightly too big for her, slid over her shoulders with ease as she picked the items out of the jacket she currently wore quickly, depositing them into the pockets of this new coat, and then she tossed the old jacket in a bin. She snatched a large pair of sunglasses, big enough to almost cover her face, and she looped her hair into a messy side-braid.

When she had finally gone all the way through the crowd she was standing outside a tavern door, a quick glance told her the men were still wandering through the crowds, looking for her, and she slipped inside.

It was dark and smelled musty and smoky, exactly how a tavern should be. She pulled the sunglasses off her face so she could see and placed them absently on a table, kept walking. It was pretty crowded, which was normal for this time of day, and suited Dani's needs perfectly.

She picked a spot on the bar, away from the door but close enough to see who came in, and waited. And watched. Dani was exceptional at watching people, probably because she was so easy to look over, people didn't even notice she was there, watching them. Most people, if they met her eyes, skimmed over them.

Which was why she was startled when her eyes met blue-grey ones across the room, in a gaze that stuck. A gaze that said, I see you watching, and I'm watching you. A gaze that, if it were possible, was purely electric. A gaze that intrigued her. But one that also scared the shit out of her.

Dani regarded the man to whom the blue-grey eyes belonged carefully, as if she were picking out a mark, knowing that he was doing the same to her. He was tall, she could tell that even though he was leaning against the wall, wore a long brown coat, not totally unlike the one she now wore. Underneath the coat she saw a reddish-brown button down shirt, and pair of tan trousers, that she could tell showed off his legs. Probably his backside too. She also noticed his gun holster, slung across his hips.

She couldn't tell much about his features from where she sat, although she got the impression of rugged-yet-boyish features, and a strong jaw. She then decided she wanted a closer look at this man who could see her, when so many never did.

She slid from her stool and moved farther into the tavern, away from the intriguing man so he would lose sight of her. Once she reached the very depths of the tavern, she slowly made her way closer, until she was just off to his right side, watching carefully. The man didn't seem to know where she had gone, and was scanning the room intently. She wondered if he was looking for her, or if he just did that all the time. She kind of got the impression that it was something he did.

He was with a small group, and they were drinking pretty heavily. The kind of drinking you do to forget something. Among the group there was him; a taller, more rugged man who she immediately categorized as mercenary; a younger, well-dressed man who seemed to not quite fit into this group; a woman with curly brown hair who she pegged as a warrior – or a soldier; another female, who was adorable in a messy kind of way; a young girl who looked quite mad; and a woman who was most certainly a Companion. They all stood along the wall, kind of blending into the room, except that Dani could certainly tell something about them was...off.

A few more moments of watching, and she could tell they were grieving. It was nothing that they really said or did; it was just something in the way they all held themselves, as if afraid to move too much for fear of shattering into pieces. Immediately Dani felt as if she were intruding, an outsider looking in on something she had no business knowing about. The feeling sat hard and uncomfortable in the pit of her stomach.

Just as she was about to turn to leave, she heard a commotion at the front door. Sure enough, Len's men came through the tavern door, still looking for her. Her heart fell. Most of the patrons took little notice of the two men who had barged in, though they did shrink away from them in something like fear when they passed by. She recognized the tall one as Hugo, and she was pretty sure the shorter one's name was Jacko. "_Ai-ya tyen-ya_," she murmured to herself quietly.

Interestingly, this group didn't look at the two men in fear like the other patrons did. Instead, they looked upon them with a kind of...boredom. As if whatever they had dealt with, or were still dealing with, was so much more profound and important than two street thugs.

The two men started prowling through the tavern, clearly looking for something. If she stayed where she was, they would find her, and if she tried to leave, they would find her. But, she could always hide. In a decision made in a split-second she lightly stepped closer to the man with the blue-grey eyes. Intuitively she placed herself somewhat behind him, so that he obstructed anyone else's view of her, and cleared her throat.

He didn't jump at her sudden presence next to him, though he did turn his head in her direction. She was, once again, captured by his gaze; her breath caught in her throat and her stomach did a flip-flop. His movement was noted by the others and suddenly, Dani felt seven pairs of eyes on her all at once, truly an uncomfortable feeling.

"Can you all look away please?" she asked, peering beyond them to see what the two thugs were doing. "You'll bring attention here if you act like that." They all looked at her with a look of disbelief, and then he shrugged in what must have been acquiescence, because the rest of them looked away. She could still feel their attention on her, but at least they weren't openly staring. "Can you move...this way please?" she asked, placing her hands on the man's shoulders and moving him so that he now faced her fully, completely blocking her from view. At her touch, he tensed slightly, and she felt muscles roll under her fingers. He, for his part, actually moved as she wanted him to, with only a small look of confusion. Mostly though, he looked interested in what she was doing. Once he was in a better position, Dani found herself reluctant to remove her hands, but did anyway.

"Got a little favour to ask you," she said to him, looking past him again.

"Is that right?" he asked her, and all seven pairs of eyes focused on her again.

Dani looked at the soldier-woman who stood next to him. "Is he yours?" she asked her quickly, nodding her head towards him.

The woman let out a huff of air, Dani wasn't sure if it was laughter or something else, but simply said, "No." Dani glanced over at the thugs again, calculating their movements, and spoke again.

"You belong to anyone else?" Dani turned her gaze back to the man, who was now looking at her with a somewhat amused, and maybe exasperated, look.

"No, can't say as I belong to anyone but myself," he replied in his easy drawl. "What, exactly, is this favour?"

Dani glanced beyond him again, to see the thugs approaching them. Fear and adrenaline kicked through her system, making her stomach feel as if it were turning in knots.

"I need you to make this look real," Dani replied, and with one last look at the thugs, she stepped close, way closer to someone than she was comfortable being, to the man, grabbed him around the collar with both hands, closed her eyes, and pulled him in for a kiss.

Their lips met haphazardly, because he wasn't ready for it, and she was tense. The impact hurt her teeth, and probably his. Her eye flew open; it was stupid for her to have shut them anyway, to find herself pierced by his gaze again. Dani thought for a moment that he was going to pull away and demand what the hell she was thinking, but instead, he surprised her. He angled his head a bit differently, wrapped his arms around her back to pull her in closer, and kissed her again. It was a demanding kiss, full of the electricity from their earlier gaze, and she struggled not to give in, to match him. They struggled for dominance, and she found herself wrapping her arms around his neck tightly, to bring herself in closer. She finally submitted to him when his tongue traced along her lips, and she opened them to allow him in; her eyes fluttered closed. They tried to pull each other in closer; and she wished they weren't in a crowded tavern, but alone. Her thoughts disturbed her and her actions frightened her. It was so out of character for her to act like this.

She finally stopped the kiss, but didn't break contact, and her eyes flew open. But only because something inside her told her that the immediate danger was passed; that, and she could feel six sets of eyes on the two of them. She pulled away just enough to look over his shoulder to see that the thugs had left the tavern. She breathed a sigh of relief. Regretting the motion, she tried to pull away completely, but his arms were still around her, holding her tightly to him, and he was regarding her with a gaze she couldn't decipher. She cleared her throat, "Erm, do you think you could let go now?" she asked.

"When I'm good and ready to I'm sure I will," he answered, not loosening his grip. Strangely enough, Dani didn't exactly mind, which was yet another frightening thing. She generally didn't enjoy being held for long, especially not by strangers, because she suffered by a touch of claustrophobia. She also didn't enjoy being in spaces that were wide open, because she suffered from agoraphobia too. Probably because there was nowhere to hide in a wide open space. But being held by this man was...nice. It was a bit disconcerting, but nice. She felt warm and supported, also protected. This was weird in all sorts of ways, like the fact that she didn't even know his name. These thoughts ran through her head a mile a minute, tripping over each other.

"Do you reckon you could tell me exactly what the purpose of that kiss was?" he finally asked her, interrupting her stream of thoughts. "Not that I mind, terribly, being kissed by a pretty girl, but I'm awfully curious."

Dani opened her mouth to speak, but it was dry, so she closed it and swallowed before trying again. "Distraction," was all she could come out with. Possibly because, did she just hear him right, or did he just refer to her as a pretty girl? She shook her head to clear it. "Or, rather, a disguise is probably more accurate."

"Wow," he said, "good disguise. Am I to assume the disguise was to hide you from the two rather rough looking gents who came in and just left?" Dani nodded. "May I ask, then, why exactly you needed to hide from them?"

Dani almost told him, she opened her mouth to spew the whole story, but caught herself just in time. She was a thief, and it was generally not good practice to go about telling everyone you were. Nor was it good practice to tell people when you were on the wrong side of Len. So she gave a little laugh, and pushed herself against his arms to loosen them so he'd let go. "I'm afraid that's a bit of a long story, and I'm in a bit of a hurry. So I really should be getting along."

As she spoke, she continued to push against his arms until he let go. When he did she smiled, even though she would have happily stayed in his arms for a while longer. She reached into her pocket and grabbed a coin, took it out and flipped it to him. To her surprise, he caught it easily. "Thanks...for the help," she grinned at him ruefully, winked, then turned on her heel and made her way to the tavern door.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mal stared after the young woman with what he was sure was a dumbstruck look on his face. He glanced over to Inara, who looked surprised and... slightly upset. Not that anyone who didn't know her would be able to tell; she was a pro at masking her emotions. It was even hard for him to tell how she really felt most of the time. But this had been so abrupt it had obviously taken her off guard. Mal wanted to know what it was about some stranger kissing him that would get Inara looking so unhappy; but he also wanted to know where the girl had gone. It only took him a moment to make up his mind to go after her, and he gave a nod to Zoe to let her know he was going.

"Cap'n?" the word, so familiar on her tongue, stopped him. "Really?"

"I'm curious is all," he answered. "I'll be back in two shakes."

He strode away from his crew, not wanting to lose sight of the girl in the crowd. He heard Jayne behind him sneer, "wish some pretty young thing would use me as a distraction," then an "Oww" when someone, probably Kaylee, hit him. Mal quickened his stride when he saw her duck out the door, and followed quickly outside.

It was already dark out, and it took him a moment for his eyes to adjust, and then another moment to find her again. Her form seemed to blend into the darkness so that it was hard to pick her out. But he saw her walk through a small crowd, turn a corner and disappear. He jogged over, turned the corner and caught sight of her walking briskly down the alleyway. An alleyway that didn't look too welcoming for a slip of a girl like her.

He lengthened his stride to keep up with her, but hell, she was a quick little thing. He almost had to go into a run just to catch up to her, but finally he was just a stride or two away. He could almost reach out and touch her, but decided against it. "Uh, wait, girl-woman-person."

At his call she stopped and turned with a look of disbelief on her face. "What are you doing?" she finally asked him, her brown eyes wide. Mal took another step closer, searching her gaze. He found that, even in this dim light, her eyes were bright, and not the brown he had originally thought, but almost golden hued, with flecks of green and brown. He could tell that she was panicked and flighty, she nearly trembled. He wondered, not for the first time, what she was hiding from.

"You ran out on me," he stated, taking another slower, more deliberate step forward. Something in her manner reminded him of a young filly; easily frightened and spooked, but graceful and quick.

"And you thought you'd follow me," she replied, taking a step back.

"I thought it was a mite rude of you, to be honest. Kissin' someone like that and then runnin' out, not even givin' me a name to call you by." Mal hooked his fingers into his belt, trying to exude confidence and calm.

"You want to know my name?" the girl asked, dumbfounded. Then she laughed.

"I'll even give you mine first. Mal Reynolds." He made an awkward bow; bowing not being something he did generally.

The bow must have looked even more awkward than it felt, because she laughed again, and Mal thought it was a sound he could listen to for awhile. It wasn't tinkling or bell-like, which is what you would almost expect, coming out of the mouth of a fragile-looking creature like her, but it was a real laugh. "Dani," she finally replied with a grin, and he found himself grinning back, for no good reason.

"Well, Dani, seems we're doin' this part backwards, but it's nice to meet you," Mal said, and stretched out his hand, which she took and shook. He was pleased to find she had a decent handshake; firm with a good grip. Mal met her gaze and held it, and something about it, something about _her_, he liked. A lot. It was like there was a spark between them that intensified the longer they held each other's gaze.

Suddenly something flickered in her eyes, and a panicked look entered them. "Wait. Mal Reynolds. _Captain_ Malcolm Reynolds?" she asked, and something about the way she held herself told him she was going to bolt.

He nodded slowly, "Yeah, that's me."

"Gorram it all to hell!" she exclaimed, snatching her hand out of his and taking a few steps backwards, out of his reach. She ran a hand over her face.

"Why exactly is that so terrible, Dani?" he asked her, trying to keep his voice calm. "I know I'm not anybody's favourite Captain, but I've done nothing awful. At least for a while." But it didn't look like his cajoling words had any effect on her, because she still had that panicked look on her face. "Dani, you mind tellin' me what's so terribly awful about my name being Malcom Reynolds? Cause in all honesty, your reaction is hurtful."

"I-I don't believe this...oh gorram it!" she swore again, "it figures. _Aiya_!" She looked at him sharply. "When, or if, you see me again, you have to act as though it's the first time you've ever laid eyes on me, _dong ma_?" As she spoke she stepped closer, and he could see in her face that she was dead serious.

"Yeah, fine," he found himself answering. Then, he shook himself, "What? Hold on just a tick, what exactly is your meaning?"

Instead of answering him, she turned and ran. And she was fast. In the blink of an eye she was already halfway down the alley, and Mal was just considering letting her go when, out of nowhere, two large shapes came hurtling out of some side-alley and barrelled into her, eliciting a sharp cry from her. It was the two thugs from before.

Mal could do nothing but watch, and try to catch up, as they knocked her over, winding her. One of them, the tall one, leaned over and picked her up by the arm. It was obviously an easy feat for him, because he did it with one hand. He then grabbed Dani's chin in his other hand and said something to her. He obviously didn't like what she replied, because he immediately struck her in an open-handed slap across her face. She didn't make a sound, but to Mal's ears it was loud, and sounded painful.

Then, with no further words, they dragged her back into the side-alley they had came from, and Mal followed and quickly as he could. But when he got there, they were gone. He reached up to his shoulder, clicked on his two-way transmitter that he always kept clipped on his suspenders (or his jacket), and buzzed Kaylee.

"What's the problem, Cap'n?" came her overly cheery voice, crackling and tinny over the walkie.

"I need you all out here, quick as ya can. Someone's snatched the girl, and I lost 'em," he replied.

Kaylee gave him a "Yessir," and in a moment or two they were all out in the alley with him. He explained to them what had transpired and that he wanted to find Dani. Zoe gave him a look.

"Would you mind explaining to me, sir, exactly what we're hopin' to accomplish here?" she asked him in undertones while everyone else spread out and started searching.

"What I aim to accomplish here is to find the poor girl who got herself nabbed by some rough characters, whose likely aim at capturin' her wasn't to dress up and have a tea party," Mal answered brusquely, really not wanting to imagine exactly why those men had grabbed Dani. That didn't mean his mind didn't go to some terrible places.

"Why we doin' this?" Jayne hollered from the end of the alley. "We ain't gettin' paid for this, are we?"

"You're doin' this because I'm tellin' you to," Mal replied. "Now get searchin'."

More than an hour later, and Mal was pretty sure they had been all through the south-side portion of the Eavesdown docks, with no sign of Dani. Mal was exhausted, and his crew was too, so he called off the search. Plus, he had a meeting in the morning with a disreputable gent about some cargo.

Dani could taste blood. The coppery taste coated the inside of her mouth and wouldn't go away, even when she spit. She was pretty sure she had bit her tongue when Hugo had hit her. Well, she had bit it one of the times he'd hit her. She also had a headache, probably from when Jacko had run into her and knocked her to the ground. She was fairly certain she was going to have a bruise or two on her face in the morning. Probably one on her hip too, she'd landed on it pretty hard.

Not for the first time she inwardly cursed Len and his thugs, and wished she was in a position to exact some vengeance on them. But she wasn't in any position to go around beating crime lords up. "Why did I have to go into that tavern?" she asked herself out loud, not worrying too much about being heard. Hugo and Jacko had dumped her in a dark holding cell by herself, and she knew the doors to the holding cells were a couple inches thick, and while they weren't a hundred percent sound-proof, people on the other side couldn't hear her if she talked quietly to herself, that was assuming anyone was on the other side listening.

She suddenly heard the hum of the door, and she scooted farther into the room and sat with her back against the wall. The lights in the room came on, bathing her in a harsh white light. She watched as the door opened and she saw Len standing there, a smug smile on his face. Her hands positively itched to wipe that grin off his face, but she sat still.

Len, otherwise known as Leonard Julius, was the big man on Persephone. He had his finger in almost every pie, a foot in every door, and an ear at every wall. Some of his business pursuits were completely legal, but most of them weren't. His specialties included trafficking, not just of drugs, and the transport of cargo of indefinite legality. But he dabbled a bit in everything.

He was a tall and imposing man, and always wore a black suit, complete with pristine white gloves, and often a top hat. He was in his late forties or so, according to what Dani could dig up. He was bald, with dark brown eyes, a hawk nose and a severe mouth. Everything about him, from his appearance to his manner, screamed power and authority. And he liked to show that he had power.

At the moment he was pulling off his gloves, his mouth turned down in distaste. He handed his gloves off to an attendant and then strode into the small room with Dani, until he stood right in front of her, so all she could see were his feet.

"Dani, Dani, Dani, what have I told you about running off?" he asked rhetorically, his voice pitched to sound like a disapproving parent. "Look at me when I talk to you, girl!" he barked out when she didn't answer him. She craned her neck so she could look up at him. "Tsk tsk Dani! What is this?" he gestured at her face and sighed dramatically. "Stand up then, so we can have a proper look at you." Dani stood up slowly, wincing at the pain in her hip. Len turned and walked to the doorway of the cell, and told her to step into the middle of the cell.

She stood quietly as he walked around her. Her skin crawled when he took her face in his hand, moving her head this way and that, as if she were a horse or a dog he was inspecting.

"You've gone and gotten yourself bruised," Len accused her, as if it was her fault. "It's a good thing I'm not trying to sell you in the morning. Do you know what a buyer would say if he saw you? Spoiled goods! And he'd want a discount, which I would be forced to agree to. Do you know how much I loathe giving discounts, Dani? I loathe it a great deal. Still, as I'm not trying to sell you it doesn't matter so much. But it looks bad on me, do you understand? Well, do you understand me? Do answer me when I ask you a question, Dani."

"Yes sir, I understand," Dani answered obediently.

"Well then, you understand that such a thing must be punished. Don't you, my dear Dani?"

"Yes sir, I understand."

"Good, good. Now then, Hugo will come in and deliver your punishment, and then you'll make yourself presentable for the morning. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir, very clear."

Len said nothing more, just nodded his head, turned and left the room. The lights in the room went out behind him. No sooner had he turned and left her line of sight was Hugo standing in the door, a leather belt in his hand and a smile on his face. Dani's heart sunk.

"Turn around and take your shirt off," Hugo demanded, smacking the belt against his hand. "Len doesn't want your face marked up any more than it already is, but your back is another story." Dani complied, turning around swiftly and unbuttoning her shirt. She let it slide off her shoulders and tossed it in the corner. Then she put her hands on the wall and bent forward. "Fifteen strikes, count 'em out."

Dani heard the crack of the belt, and then felt the sharp pain on her back and only just refrained from crying out. "One, two, three..." her voice was hoarse by the end of it, and tears streamed openly down her face, which made her thankful for the darkness of the room. As soon as Hugo left the room she collapsed onto the floor, her shaking legs unable to hold her up any more. He had accused her of miscounting, and made her start over. They had been at thirteen.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Mal woke up feeling groggy and not at all well rested. He had barely slept the night before, his thoughts plagued by Dani and what had happened to her. His plan was to go see his contact this morning, and then take the afternoon to ask around about Dani. He would tell the man that he still had some business to take care of, so he couldn't leave right away. Not for the first time he wondered why he was taking such an interest in the girl. It had only been one kiss, after all, and it wasn't like she was part of his crew. But, she was definitely in trouble, and Mal wanted to help.

He met Zoe and Jayne in _Serenity_'s kitchen once he was dressed, and was pleased to find them both ready to go. He filled them in on his plan for the day, and was thankful when Zoe only gave him a look, but said nothing.

They took the mule and drove it into town, as _Serenity_ was landed away from town. On the drive in he and Zoe talked about their contact. "What do we know about him, sir?" Zoe asked him.

"From what I hear, he's a somewhat particular gent, and is big on respect, in that he thinks it's owed to him. Makes good on his word though, so we won't have a big problem gettin' paid once the job is done. Which will make a nice change."

"Do we know what the job is?" was Zoe's next question.

"Cargo transport, and then we're supposed to bring something back, but I'm still a mite fuzzy on the details," Mal replied.

By this time they were in town, and they parked the mule outside the building they had been told to go to. It wasn't far, in Mal's estimation, from the tavern they'd been at the night before. Which was all well and good, because it made it a lot easier for him to start looking for Dani again right away. They all jumped off the mule and walked into the building, nodding at the guards who were standing at the door.

Another one stopped them once they were inside, and three of them checked them for weapons, while he spoke. "You have an appointment?"

Zoe, Mal and Jayne exchanged glances. "Yes, we do. Here for business purposes," Mal replied. The guard nodded his head and ushered them into an elevator, but didn't come in with them. He just stood staring at them as the elevator door shut. Mal looked for a button to push, but apparently someone else controlled where the elevator went, because there were no buttons to press. After a moment, the elevator lurched and Mal could feel it moving. Strangely, it was going down.

"Jayne, I don't want you to say a word when we get in there talking to this guy," Mal said, giving the merc a look. "Like I said before, this guy is big on respect and such, and not much that comes outta that mouth of yours sounds terribly respectable. Dong ma?" Jayne nodded and gave a grunt of acquiescence.

Mal felt the elevator stop moving, and the door opened into a round room. There were several exits, but each was guarded by an armed man. At the far end of the room was their contact, who had his back turned to them, and appeared to be talking to someone on a phone. They stepped out of the elevator into the centre of the room, and Mal waited to be addressed first.

The man turned around and smiled at them. "Ah, Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a pleasure to meet you. And this is, I presume, your first mate Zoe Washburne, and your second man, Jayne Cobb." He clasped his hands in front of him. "And I am, of course, Leonard Julius." He paused, as if waiting for Mal to say something.

"And it's a pleasure to meet you, as well. I was told that you had work, and you expressed the need of a ship to move some property," Mal said, not exactly comfortable with Leonard's manner. It seemed to him that the man dressed and spoke the way he did in order to show he was the man in charge around here. And the way he spoke, even though it sounded pleasant, gave Mal the chills.

"Ah, yes. I see you're a business-man, first and foremost, Captain. A trait I greatly admire in those I employ. Very well then, shall I show you your cargo?" Mal nodded and Leonard snapped his fingers twice. Mal was could see some movement somewhat behind and to the side of Leonard, and heard a few people come into the room, although he kept his gaze firmly on the man. He heard Zoe's sharp intake of breath and wondered what it was that Leonard had brought into the room that would make his first-mate lose her poker face. Leonard smiled and nodded his head at Mal, and he took that as permission to look at the cargo in question, and he turned his head.

His jaw almost dropped.

Only years of practice of schooling his facial expressions kept him from giving anything away when he saw exactly what his cargo was. Or rather who. It was Dani.

She looked remarkably different from yesterday. Where yesterday she had looked normal and had blended in, today she was dressed to the nines in a midnight blue dress tunic that shimmered in the light and clung to her curves in a way that made Mal's imagination run wild. Her hair was washed and straightened and she was even wearing make-up. It was certainly a get-up that shouted "Look at me!" and Dani looked...good in it, although it didn't exactly look as though she was comfortable wearing it. Her face was schooled into a calm, submissive expression, which was unsettling. What took him aback the most though was the large, purplish bruise marring the entire right side of her face. Apparently the make-up was unable to cover it. Mal tightened his jaw, feeling anger surge up from his stomach at her mistreatment. She met his gaze and something in her eyes told him she was extremely uncomfortable and to please not say anything.

"I hope, Captain, that you have no problems in transporting this girl as a part of the cargo," Leonard's voice interrupted Mal's thoughts.

"Er, certainly not. No problems at all." Mal turned back to Leonard. "Is there anything else?"

"A few cases, they shouldn't take up much room. They belong to her," Leonard replied, gesturing at Dani. "Oh, I suppose I should introduce you. Captain, this is Danielle Gougen. Danielle, this is Captain Malcolm Reynolds. Do shake his hand dear, and don't be such a cretinous child." At his words, Dani promptly stepped forward and shook Mal's hand daintily, not the same hand-shake she had used last night. She murmured a quiet "Pleased to meet you, sir," as she shook his hand, and did the same for both Zoe and Jayne. She quickly stepped back so she stood off to the side and somewhat behind Leonard, with her head tilted down submissively and her hands clasped demurely in front of her.

"Now, what I will require from you, Captain, is to take her into the third quadrant, to a small moon called Liandra. Danielle here has some business to attend to there, and I am unable to take her. Once she concludes that business, you are to bring her back here to me, with a few items she will procure while she is there. She is to have her own quarters while she travels with you, I presume that won't be a problem. Any questions?"

"No, it seems pretty straightforward," Mal replied, although questions rolled around in his head.

"I suppose you want to know what you'll be paid for this job," Leonard continued, waving another man forward, who was carrying a small stack of bills. "Here is a quarter of what you are to be paid, and you'll get the rest of it upon your return." The man handed Mal the stack and Mal guessed that there was probably close to three thousand there. "I calculated that it should take you no longer than two months to get there and back. Of course, if you are tardy, there will be late fees deducted from your fee. Just a bit of an incentive to get the job done as quickly as possible, and so that you don't keep Danielle longer than is necessary. And if you are early, of course you'll get a bonus. Does this seem fair to you, Captain?"

Mal nodded, "Yes, of course." He cleared his throat. "Are there any other...incentives I should know about?" he asked.

"Why yes there is!" Leonard replied gleefully, "you are to return Danielle to me in the same condition I give her to you...except for that nasty contusion she has there on her face. Poor thing is a bit awkward and clumsy I'm afraid, but you'll see to her, yes? Of course, if you don't, more will be deducted from your fee. You see, Danielle is very precious to me; I am quite fond of her. You might say that I consider her to be my very own child." As he spoke, he reached backwards and Dani stepped forward, so that he could rest his hand on top of her head. His manner made Mal suspect that he considered Dani to be more of a pet, or property, than his own child, but he held his tongue. "Do you have any other questions or concerns, Captain?" Leonard asked him.

"No, it all seems pretty clear. If Danielle is ready to go, we have a mule parked outside and we can take her and her things now, and we can leave straight away."

Leonard smiled. "Very good, Captain. Very, very good. I can tell that this is the beginning of a very prosperous and auspicious business relationship, for us both. You must excuse me though, now, as I have many important issues to attend to, but I hope you believe me when I wish you a pleasant journey." He patted Dani once more on the head, and then left the room.

Mal took that as a sign of dismissal, and he motioned for Jayne to take the cases that another attendant had brought into the room while they had been talking. He and Zoe turned and walked towards the elevator, his mind whirling at the strangeness of the whole situation. He heard Dani follow close behind him, who was then followed by Jayne.

Once the elevator door shut he looked at Dani questioningly, but she shook her head at him as a warning not to say anything in the elevator, and her eyes darted up towards the ceiling where, Mal assumed, a camera watched. The elevator ride passed by quickly though, and soon they were outside, tying Dani's cases onto the mule. Once that was done he lifted her up onto it, curious when she made a small hiss-like sound. They drove back quickly, and soon they were onboard _Serenity,_ and Mal planned on having a lengthy conversation with Dani once they had reached atmo.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Dani felt incredibly uncomfortable in the dress she was wearing. Len always strongly suggested that his underlings dress up like this whenever they were going to be seen by anyone, because it would reflect well on him. It was a kind of message that they belonged to him. It seemed pretty stupid to Dani though, since she was primarily a thief, and as such it was better for her to go unnoticed, but Len was always obsessing about his appearance.

Not only was she uncomfortable in the dress, but the fabric clung to her skin and was painful against her back. She could feel drops of blood dripping down her back, her face and hip throbbed, and wanted nothing more than to change her clothes and go to sleep. The look Mal had given her when they took off, however, promised a long conversation, meaning she couldn't sleep yet. He had left her in the kitchen of _Serenity_ with instructions to stay put while he took care of something, so she sat down in one of the chairs, and waited with one of her suitcases on her lap. She had insisted that Mal let her take it, because she said she felt guilty making someone else carry all of her stuff on.

She didn't have to wait long though, thankfully, because soon Mal was back. Unfortunately though, his whole crew came in with him, and they all seated themselves around the table.

Mal finally spoke up. "Well, seems that our cargo is Dani here," he told his crew, filling them in on the details of his meeting with Len. Once he explained the job he looked at Dani seriously. "So she has some kind of job to do on Liandra, the details of which I am quite positive are unhealthy to know, so no one is to stick their noses into her business. Am I understood?" Six faces nodded. "Dani, I suppose I should introduce you to the crew. You've met Zoe and Jayne, and this is Kaylee, our mechanic, Inara, a Companion, Simon, our doc and River, his sister. This here is the kitchen, obviously, and you're welcome to eat what's here. The food is pretty standard ship fare. I'll give you the grand tour later, and show you where you're allowed and where you're not."

He sighed and rubbed the side of his face, "We didn't know that you were the cargo, or that you would need your own room, so we'll have to switch some folks around."

Dani started to speak. "Oh, I don't really need my own room; I don't want to put anyone out..."

Jayne spoke up then, "If'n that's the case, y'can always bunk with me," he gave her a leer and a wink that told her he would be more than accommodating and Dani covered a laugh with a cough. The Companion rolled her eyes, and Dani got the impression that she didn't like her, which puzzled her, since she hadn't done anything to her.

"No, I really don't think that'll be necessary Jayne," Mal said, and gave him a look that Dani couldn't interpret. He looked at Dani again, "And I'm afraid we do need to put you in your own room, seein' as how that was part of the arrangement. I'll show you the rooms and you can take your pick." He looked around the kitchen at his crew. "Now I'm fairly sure there's plenty of work to be done so that you don't all have to sit there looking so bored. Get to it." There was an iron edge to his tone that made sure his crew got up and made themselves scarce. The only one who didn't was the Companion, Inara, who fluidly got up and went to make herself a cup of tea.

Dani couldn't help but watch her, slightly envious of her grace and beauty. The woman was sensuality and charisma personified. She shook her head slightly, knowing those traits would definitely be detrimental for someone like her. What good was a thief who everyone could remember? She also noticed Mal watching her, and felt a slight pang in her stomach. _Get a grip Dani, of course he's going to watch her, she's the most beautiful woman here_.

"Well, I'd best show you the rooms, so that you can choose one and get settled," Mal suddenly said, standing up and reaching for her case, which she reluctantly let him take.

"That would be great," Dani replied, trying not to think about the contents of the case in Mal's hands, and what he might think or say should the case suddenly open, "I'm itching to get out of this get-up and into something a bit more...comfortable."

Mal chuckled. "No, I didn't think that was what you normally wore." He led her out of the kitchen and through the ship, pointing out rooms and the like as they walked along. They reached the part of the ship where the spare rooms were and Mal pointed them out to her.

"Mal... do you mind if I call you Mal?" Dani asked, feeling a bit awkward and hesitant.

"No, I don't suppose I overly mind being called Mal, seeing as how it's my name, and I already told you to call me that," he replied in a teasing tone. "Besides, it'd be a mite silly for you to be callin' me Captain or Sir, especially after that kiss."

Dani felt herself go hot as the mention of the kiss brought its memory to the front of her mind, making her relive the feel of his lips against hers. She pushed it to the back of her mind and gave him a half-hearted grin. "I was sorta hopin' you wouldn't mention it."

"Well that's a shame, seein' as how I was definitely plannin' on talkin' about it," Mal replied. "But, if you don't feel up to it right now, I suppose you can pick out your room first."

Dani took a breath. "Right. My room. Is there a room that no one is in, so that I don't kick someone out of theirs? It's not exactly the best way to start out."

Mal nodded his head, "You've got a point there. Unfortunately though, all the rooms are taken. So someone is going to have to get moved."

Dani sighed, "Well shit." She rubbed her face again, since it was still throbbing.

"Look, if it bothers you that much, you can use my bunk," Mal offered, "since I don't often sleep anyway." The look on his face after making the offer was hilarious; as if he wasn't consciously aware he was going to make it, and was surprised when the words came out of his mouth. Dani almost laughed. The only reason she didn't was because of the visual she had in her mind at the moment, of her and Mal in his bunk...definitely not sleeping.

"No, Mal, thank you though. I couldn't do that," she replied, letting him off the hook.

"Alright, well then you can sleep in this room," Mal said, sliding open the door to one of the rooms. "I think Simon usually sleeps in here, but I'm fairly certain Simon seldom ends up in his own bed anymore anyhow. You go ahead and get comfortable, and I'll go fetch the rest of your stuff." He handed her the suitcase, which she took feeling a sense of relief having it in her own hands again. "Won't be long."

Dani nodded her head in agreement, and stepped into the room to take a look around it. It was pretty bare, and had no personal effects lying around, except for a black bag and a clock on the bedside table. She slid open the closet door to find a couple of suits and some trousers and shirts all hung up neatly. _Yep_, she thought to herself, _definitely the doctor's room_. She didn't touch anything, but closed the closet door, and then the other door so she could change.

She slid out of the dress and let it fall to the floor in a crumpled heap, then opened her suitcase, where there was a pair of faded blue jeans and an old button-down, plaid shirt which was too big for her, but it was comfortable, and it didn't rub against her back. She pulled the jeans on, wincing at the pain it caused her. She was just about to put the shirt on when she heard a gasp from the door.

She spun around, eyes wide, shut the open case on the bed, and dropped the shirt down onto the floor and got into a defensive posture. Then she felt a bit silly when she saw it was just the doctor, Simon. She straightened slowly, giving a little grin. "Uh, hi Doc. Sorry...if this is your room...Mal told me to sleep here... cause there's nowhere else for me. I hope it doesn't put you out too much."

"Uhh, no, it's fine, I was just coming to pick up my med kit and some other stuff," he said, pointing to the black bag on the floor. "Mal told me you were going to be staying in here, so I thought I better get my stuff out."

"Oh, that's not really necessary..." she began.

"It's no problem, Dani," he interrupted her.

She then realized that she was standing there shirtless, and while she wasn't terribly modest, she didn't usually go around showing everyone her assets, modest as they were. She bent to pick up the shirt that had fallen on the floor and winced, sucked in a hissing breath.

Simon jumped to action, coming across the room and picking up the shirt for her quickly. "Here," he said gently, and Dani took the shirt thankfully.

"Thanks Doc," she said.

"Call me Simon," he replied with his own grin, and in his eyes Dani saw a kindness and compassion. "Forgive me if I'm intruding, but I think your back needs some tending to."

"Oh, it's fine, not a big deal..." she trailed off when she saw the look Simon gave her. She took a breath, "Yes, please, Doc, err...Simon, I'd appreciate it if you'd see to my back. Hard for me to reach it."

"We have an infirmary," he began, "but I get the feeling you'd rather I just bandaged you up in here." Dani smiled, he was certainly adept at picking up on how she was feeling. A good characteristic in a doctor.

"Yes please," she replied.

He walked over to the door and slid it closed, and then grabbed his med kit. "I have needles and thread, a disinfectant, and bandages, but no sealant. So I'm afraid there will be a scar."

"Simon, scars aren't a big deal for me. Just patch me up quick, please."

He nodded. "Alright, lay on your stomach on the bed." Dani complied, but slowly. "Alright, I'm going to undo your bra, okay? Just so I can get to the whole thing." Dani nodded, and felt his hands undo the clasp on her bra. She worked to keep her breathing steady and calm, but felt herself hyperventilate. She had issues with being touched by anyone, even doctors. Simon must have felt her discomfort, because he laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'll do this as quickly as possible, okay? Just concentrate on your breathing for me."

Dani tried to concentrate on her breathing, but it hitched when Simon got to cleaning the blood from the long gashes on her back. "I know it hurts, I'll administer a pain killer as soon as this is cleaned out." Simon was good on his word, and worked quickly; his hands were adept and he was clearly a skilled surgeon, and she wondered what brought him aboard Malcolm Reynolds' ship. Once he had cleaned the wound she felt the prick of a needle, and shortly after that her pain ceased.

She floated comfortably, aware of Simon's ministrations, she could feel the pressure of his hands, could feel the cold prick of the needle as it punctured her skin, and the pull of the stitches, pulling flesh back together again.

"Funny, how you have to cut and poke and prod to fix me, when it was the cut of a whip that laid me open," she said, feeling a bit giddy now that she felt no pain.

"Just to fix you up again," Simon replied, his voice sounded kind of far away. "Almost done."

"Simon?" Dani yawned out his name, "how come you're on this ship?"

"I'm the medic," he replied.

"That's not an answer," she said, turning her head slightly to look at him. He smiled at her and told her to turn around and not move.

"Or else I may stitch something that doesn't need stitching." She complied.

"I'm still waiting for your real answer."

He sighed. "The government took River, my sister, and did some pretty terrible things to her. I found out and so I went and got her. But, they, the government, wanted her back, so we had to go into hiding. Which is how River and I found ourselves on _Serenity_." While he spoke he continued working, and his voice lulled her a bit, and made her sleepy.

"I'm pretty sure you're leaving a lot out. A lot of important details. But that's okay, not really any of my business anyway." Dani closed her eyes.

"Well, I'm all finished," Simon said, re-clasping her bra. "Before you fall asleep, do you want some help getting your shirt on?"

"Yes please," Dani sat up slowly, feeling a bit like her arms were made of lead. She sat up just enough so that Simon could help her get her arms into the sleeves, and he even buttoned the shirt up most of the way.

"Try not to get up for awhile; the meds will be in your system for another half-hour or so. I only gave you a small dose, so you won't feel really groggy when you wake up."

"Thanks, Simon," Dani said, lying back down on the bed on her side. "I'm just gonna nap for a bit." And then she was asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: sorry for the wait, this chapter was just not cooperating with me. But here it is, and hopefully I'll get something else put up soon.

Chapter 5

Mal was just hauling Dani's cases back to her room when he ran into Inara in the corridor.

"Well," she said, crossing her arms over her chest, "this is an interesting turn of events."

"I don't think so," he answered shortly...more than he intended.

"Oh, you don't think so? You don't think it's interesting that the girl who threw herself on you last night turns out to be the cargo in your next job?" Inara asked him, her tone harsh.

"There's a story there, sure enough," Mal agreed.

"A story?" Inara huffed out the words in a humourless laugh. "Mal, what if she's another Saffron? What if her whole purpose here is to cause trouble?"

"I doubt that's the case," Mal said, "but if it is; we'll be ready for it, won't we? Not likely we'll be caught off guard by the same scam more'n'once, is it? Besides, what makes you think that the only reason a woman would throw herself on me would be in order to scam me? I'm a little insulted."

She rolled her eyes at his last comment. "Well how are you to know?" she asked him. "Do you know what her job is?"

"No, I don't know," Mal replied, "and, as I believe I have already said, that particular knowledge could turn out to be dangerous to have. Leonard Julius has a reputation, and I would much prefer not to cross him, or appear to cross him, for that matter. Now I believe that Dani doesn't mean to do us any harm while she's here, so I expect you to treat her the same as you would any other passenger." He paused. "Unless she gives us reason to doubt her, we'll assume innocence. And don't go lookin' for reasons either," he said, pointing his index finger at her.

Inara gave a small laugh. "Hardly," she said, "snooping around in other people's business is not one of my hobbies." She paused, "I will watch though, carefully."

"Good enough," he replied. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a couple of suitcases to bring our passenger."

When Mal finally got around to bringing Dani the rest of her luggage he found her asleep in her room. Her face was smooth of the worry and nervousness that had been there before, and she looked soft, beautiful, and completely defenceless. It made him think protective, somewhat possessive thoughts, that he had no business thinking. So he put the cases down and started to shut the door quietly as he could.

Apparently he hadn't been quiet enough, because Dani stirred on the bed. Her eyes fluttered open and she stretched with a yawn. Mal couldn't help but see the shirt lift up slightly to reveal the pale, pink skin of her midsection. Her eyes opened all the way and she looked his way. He met her gaze sheepishly, feeling not just a little bit like some kind of old pervert.

He cleared his throat. "Good, you're up."

"Uhh, yeah," she replied, sitting up so she sat with one leg bent and the other underneath it. She pulled her fingers through her hair and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

For a moment or two they didn't say anything, he just stood there in the doorway and she just sat on the bed, the silence long and awkward between them. Mal, for his part, couldn't help but think about the night before, about their kiss. Seeing Dani sitting on the bed like she was, her hair all tousled, didn't help matters either, and made his mind conjure up more images of the two of them on the bed.

"I'd like a word with you about this whole business, once you're fully awake and movin' about. Come on up to the bridge when you're ready, and we'll talk." He finally found the words he wanted, and then strode away quickly.

He found River sitting in the bridge in the pilot's chair she had taken over, staring out at the stars. She had that very strange, very bewildering look on her face; the one that was calm and blank, as if no one was home but the lights were still on. But Mal knew better. He was positive she was contemplating something that would probably make his head hurt, if he were to ask, so he didn't. He leaned against the door jam, arms crossed over his chest.

"She's not what she's supposed to be," River suddenly said, turning around in the chair to face him.

"Who's that now?" he asked her, stepping forward and ushering her out of the pilot's chair. She moved gracefully and sat in the co-pilot's chair, tucking her legs up and under her. He sat down in the pilot's chair and checked the numerous dials and switches to see what she'd been mucking about with before he'd come in.

"We're on a steady course," River said to him, deciphering his motions easily.

"I'm sure we are," Mal replied, turning the chair to face her. It was still taking some...adjusting, getting used to River help him pilot the ship. "Who's not who they're supposed to be?" he repeated.

"She isn't," River repeated, "the forget-me-not."

"What?" Mal asked, now really confused.

"What did she just say?" Dani's voice, shrill and panicked, came from behind him, and he turned to see her standing in the doorway stiffly. She was looking at River oddly, with something like fear in her gaze, clearly trying to figure her out. River gazed back at her, completely unperturbed.

"The forget-me-not," she repeated again, "a five-lobed flower, _Myosotis_, with many species, traditionally blue, pink or white with a yellow center, blooms in the spring. Or, the sobriquet of a talented thief." Dani just stared, open-mouthed at River as though she had grown a couple extra heads. Mal could sympathize, he had felt similarly when he'd first seen River in action.

"The name familiar, Dani?" Mal asked her, and Dani twitched slightly when he spoke her name, and turned to look at him helplessly, clearly not knowing what to make of this.

Then River blinked, and she looked at Mal. "I'm going now." She got up and walked past Dani, who flinched away from her slightly. Dani turned and watched River suspiciously as she walked away.

"She fair boggles the mind a bit," Mal said, and Dani turned her attention back to him. "But she's harmless enough. Come in; don't stand near the door like that." Dani came in and leaned a hip against the console, looking out. She didn't say anything for a moment, and Mal gave her time. So he just sat and watched her watching the stars. It was a pleasant view.

"I haven't heard that name spoken in a long time," she finally spoke, not looking at him. "Been years, in fact since anyone's called me that."

"Forget-me-not a nickname of yours?" Mal asked the question, even though he knew the answer already. But he didn't know everything, and he wanted to. He wanted to know everything he could about this girl.

"It used to be," she said ruefully, "when things were a lot simpler...when my life was simpler. Back when I was doing simple jobs for simple people. Back when it was all about the thrill." She shook herself and continued, "I'm sure you've figured out for yourself that I'm not going to Liandra for a social visit, that's not the type of thing Len would hire you for, pay you so ludicrously for. Or the type of... engagement he'd send me on."

"You do many engagements for Julius?" Mal asked.

"Yeah, I've done a fair number of jobs for him," she replied.

"What kind of job are you on now?"

Now she turned to look at him. "I can't tell you that Mal. Usually I wouldn't tell you any of this, technically I'm not allowed to tell you any of this, god knows Len would have my hide if he knew I was saying any of this, but because you...uh..." she coughed, looking somewhat embarrassed, which made Mal grin, "saw me before we were introduced, I can't really hide behind the facade. I think you know what I'm going to Liandra to do."

Mal nodded thoughtfully. "I believe I do," he said. He scratched his chin, "it does fairly complicate things a bit though."

"No, it really doesn't," Dani replied urgently, taking a step toward him and shaking her head. "It doesn't change what your job is. Your job is to get me to Liandra, and then take me back. That's all. No further involvement necessary. Besides, you said it yourself; the knowledge about my job is dangerous to know. And I don't want to endanger anyone's lives." Mal inwardly cursed himself for his own words.

"You mean anymore than they already are?" Mal asked. "I'm not exactly an upright citizen, otherwise Julius wouldn't be using me to ship you back and forth. But I don't exactly appreciate being left in the dark about things happenin' on my own ship, and whatever you're plannin' on stealin' on Liandra...well that puts a target on my back, and on the backs of my crew. A target that I don't know the size of. And that I won't stand for."

"Mal, what I'm doing won't endanger any of you, so long as you stay out of it. You weren't even supposed to know what my true purpose was, that's how small a target we're talking. And it won't put any targets on anyone's back but mine. Besides, no one will even know I'm there." She grinned. "I'm very good at what I do, I have a lot of practice at it. I don't need any help from anyone other than me; all I need is the transportation."

"Fair enough," he said after a few beats, and Dani breathed a sigh of relief. "But I still have a couple of concerns," he said, standing up and leaning against the console.

Dani braced herself for the next barrage of questions. "What then?" She tensed when he reached out and grabbed her gently by the wrist and pulled her in closer. Her breath hitched slightly at their sudden closeness. She was standing directly in front of him, could feel the warmth of his thighs against her own. Even in his relaxed position, leaning against the console, he was still taller than she was. Before she had been able to at least ignore her attraction to him, but when she was this close to him it was extremely difficult not to move forward the last inches between them to kiss him.

"Well, seems to me you still have some explainin' to do regarding last night's activities," Mal said to her, a small smile playing about his lips. "Not that, as I believe I've said, I mind overmuch bein' kissed by a pretty girl; I would just like to know the real reason why. Since you ran off last night, and got yourself a nice shiner." As he spoke his last words he traced down the side of her cheek with the back of his finger, and Dani held herself still so she wouldn't tremble at his touch.

She cleared her throat, "I – uh – I told you why. I was hiding from those two thugs."

"Didn't hide for long enough though, seein' as how they got you anyway," Mal's words were soft, but Dani was pretty sure she heard steely anger beneath them. Then he took his hand off her cheek, placed it on her arm, "And this is where I'm a mite fuzzy. You say you work for Julius, but the night before you're supposed to be shipped off to Liandra, you're hiding from his thugs. Now why is that I wonder?"

Dani bit her bottom lip, using the sting as a way to focus on the question and not on the warmth of his hand on her arm and around her wrist. She regarded Mal, wondering just how much she should tell him. "Working for might be kind of a misnomer. Think of it more as being bound to him...in a very non-legal sense."

"So you're a slave."

Dani scrunched up her face in distaste at the term. "No... not really a slave, I get... compensation for what I do. As long as it's exactly what he's told me to do."

"So, you were trying to, what, run away?"

"What? No! I was out looking for..." Dani faltered, "someone." Mal regarded her curiously, and Dani gulped at the sudden blockage in the throat. It was so easy for her to just spill her secrets to him, and she couldn't afford that. "I was out, and Len hadn't given me permission to go, so he sent Jacko and Hugo out to...retrieve me."

"Does... retrieving you always involve you getting hurt?" Mal asked, and Dani was sure she heard real concern in his voice.

Dani gave him a lop-sided smile. "Well, yes and no. It wasn't the plan for me to get this," she said, gesturing to her face, "and Len didn't really like it so much. However, Jacko and Hugo are not huge fans of mine, I may have lifted their wallets this one time... and they kind of hold onto a grudge."

"I don't think you're tellin' me the whole story," Mal said to her, his gaze still piercing.

"No, I'm really not," Dani replied. "But since some of the story doesn't exactly pertain to you, or this job, I'm just going to leave it at that."

"Alright then," Mal trailed off. "Can I say something to you?" he asked, catching her with his gaze. "I really probably shouldn't say this to you, on account of the fact that we're workin' together, but I wanna tell you something."

"Uh, yeah," she agreed, caught in his blue eyes. He stood and pulled her in more, so they were standing toe-to-toe, very nearly chest-to-chest. Dani could feel warmth radiating from him, and could smell him. He had a masculine, somehow outdoorsy scent, like clean, fresh air; like what you would breathe in if you were on a galloping horse, with undertones of ship interior and gunpowder. It was a very strange combination and she had no idea how she could identify the various smells that made up his very unique scent, but she wanted to be closer to it.

"I really enjoyed kissing you," the words caught her off guard and Dani's breath caught in her throat. "Now, I'm tellin' you this because I'm in a truthful mood, and also because I'm hopin' you'll say somethin' of a similar nature to me."

"I – uh – I... enjoyed kissing you too," Dani replied, feeling very foolish. "But I thought we agreed that we weren't going to talk about it."

"Oh no, see that's where you're mistaken," Mal said with the grin that Dani was coming to know well, and she wanted to see it more. While he spoke he ran his hands up and down her arms, causing goose-bumps to rise. "We agreed a little while ago not to discuss it. But now we're discussing it."

"What, exactly, is there to discuss about it?" Dani asked, really having a hard time keeping track of the conversation, instead focusing a lot of her energy on his hands and what they were doing. They finally stopped moving, which relieved her, but he didn't remove them. Instead, he loosely held onto her arms right above the elbows.

"The possibility of another one," Mal finally replied, and Dani gulped.

"That's – uh – that's probably not a good idea," she said, "for you – for us – to kiss again."

"Can you think of some very compellin' reasons for us not to?" Mal asked her, and smiled down at her (Damn the man's smile!) again. Dani wracked her brain for a reason.

"Yes...maybe... I swear I know a perfectly good reason," she said. "Tons of them, in fact."

"Can you now?" he asked her, that damned smile still playing about his lips.

"Yes! And stop smiling at me, damn you. You said it yourself, we're working together; and it'll complicate things and that's just not healthy for either of us."

"That's probably true, but I don't know if I care too much at this moment."

"You probably should! Think about Len, and what he'll do to us if he finds out."

"You think that's like to happen?" he asked her.

"Well no, but there's plenty of other reasons."

"Really?"

"Yes, really!"

But he was still looking at her, and all of the sane thoughts were quickly flying out of her head. His gaze made Dani feel strange; slightly uncomfortable but at the same time, she liked it. This was probably due to the fact that she was pretty busy looking back at him, and really enjoying the view. She knew that it was a bad idea for her to be in such close proximity to him. But his hands were still on her, and it was making it hard for her to concentrate on the reasons why it was a bad idea. Mal bent slightly towards her, and Dani knew with certainty that he was going to kiss her. She wanted him to, but she panicked, and blurted the first thing that came to mind.

"So look, we've got kind of a long flight between here and Liandra, so is there some kind of job I can do? I'm not very good at sitting around doin' nothing."

Mal blinked. "What?"

"Is there something I can do to keep me busy while we travel?" Dani asked again.

"There's always things that need done on a ship. You, uh, you got any kind of preference?"

"I'm pretty good with any kind of tech, some engine stuff too if your mechanic needs a hand."

He blinked again, clearly confused, and Dani took the chance to back up and get some space. It wasn't what she wanted, if she had what she wanted she'd be kissing him right now, but she couldn't be. She had a job to think about, and couldn't afford the distraction that he presented. "So, I'm gonna go and see if your mechanic needs any help, I'm sure you have lots of Captainy-type things to do." As she spoke she retreated towards the door. "Kaylee's her name, right?" He nodded, and was giving her a look she couldn't decipher, nor did she know if she wanted to. "Right then, see you...later." She bolted down the corridor, away from the temptation of Malcolm Reynolds.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Mal could hardly believe his actions. When he had watched Dani bolt out of the room he had wanted to chase after her – had only just held himself back. And that was only because of the flash of panic he'd seen on Dani's face. That panicked look haunted him now.

He'd crossed a line – or almost had, anyway – one he'd never even come close to. One he'd never wanted to come close to. He knew better than to get involved; knew better than to get too interested in his cargo. It complicated things, and his life was often much more complicated than he liked.

He knew his interest in Dani was unhealthy – and probably dangerous. He was very aware of Julius's reputation and knew, both from what he'd heard and from his own interaction with the man, that Julius was very territorial and possessive about what he considered to be his property. And Mal was certain that Julius considered Dani his property.

And yet, the knowledge did nothing to deter him. He wanted her...badly. He really wasn't sure what it was about her that so intrigued him. She was so different from any woman he'd ever known. She certainly didn't have Inara's poise or beauty; she didn't have Saffron's flash or lure; none of Nandi's fiery determination or sexiness; but that was probably why he found her so attractive. She was clearly not a woman who enjoyed having attention brought to her, that much was clear from her obvious discomfort when he'd been scrutinizing her earlier. She was beautiful in a very quiet and unobtrusive way, sort of like if you looked too quick you'd miss her. But once you looked at her, you saw it. She wasn't meek or mild either. She had a personality, one that Mal wanted to get to know more. She had a skill set that was useful too, it certainly wasn't legal, but Mal liked that too.

The only thing that was keeping him now from pursuing her was that look he'd seen on her face. He'd been sure that she was interested in him too, but after seeing that look...now he wasn't quite so confident. He knew she found him attractive – her body language was pretty telling – but it was her fear of crossing a line that held her back. That fear that should be holding him back, but for once in his life – it wasn't.

He huffed out a breath and sat heavily in the pilot's chair and looked out at the sky to try to clear his mind. He needed to try to keep a clear head, and get a hold on his emotions and bodily urges. Even if he wasn't worried overmuch about Julius (even though he had reason to be), she was; and he should take heed.

He was still looking out at the stars when Zoe came up onto the bridge. "Cap'n?" He snapped out of his reverie and regarded her. "Are you alright?"

He ignored the question. "Is there a problem, Zoe?"

"No, Cap'n, I was just wonderin' if we knew any more...specifics about the job, or Dani. That might be...important to know, sir."

Mal sighed and rubbed his face with a hand. "We do and we don't," he replied. "We know that Dani is going to Liandra to lift something, but we don't know what it is, nor should we care to find out."

Zoe nodded, "I knew she couldn't be going for a social visit. Is it a dangerous mission, and does she need any of our help?"

Mal shook his head. "I don't have a clue as to the nature of the piece she's supposed to steal, and she was...unenthusiastic at the mention of helpin' her. She wants to do it on her own, and I think she's more than capable of doing her job."

"Right," Zoe nodded.

"Anything else?" Mal asked.

"No, sir," Zoe replied.

"Good," Mal stood and started walking out of the bridge. "Make sure we stay on course, and then go on down to the galley. I believe it's Jayne's night for supper and I would like to have something remotely edible. How he consistently manages to make protein completely uneatable I can never figure."

"Yes, sir," Zoe replied, and even though Mal wasn't looked at her he could detect a smile in her voice. And he was glad. Zoe didn't smile half so much anymore.

With that taken care of, Mal went in search of someone he almost never actively sought out. River Tam. He found her lying on the catwalk in the cargo bay. She was sprawled out, her arm dangling over the edge and her eyes closed.

"River," he said, to get her attention. Nothing. "River!" he repeated, a little louder this time.

Her eyes snapped open. "I heard you," she said, but she didn't get up.

"What are you doing there?" Mal asked her, against his better judgement.

"Listening," she replied cryptically.

"To what, exactly?"

"To _Serenity_, to you, to everyone and everything."

That made Mal more than a tad nervous. "Really? Should you be doin' that?" he asked her. "Won't it...doesn't it..." he fumbled for the words to ask her.

"Make me crazier than I already am?" River finished his thought for him.

"Well...yeah," Mal replied, not coming up with a better alternative.

"No. It's better when I listen, and take it all in. Better to cope than to ignore. That way everything doesn't pile up and up and up, like garbage in a trash dispenser, to clog up the workings. When it's dealt with, it flushes away, freeing the system so it can continue to operate functionally. Or semi-functionally, as the case may be."

Mal just nodded. Her logic made a kind of sense to him, if you could believe that so many thoughts clogged up her head. Which he could. "And what are you hearing?" he asked, half-fearing her answer.

"Rumbles from _Serenity_, grief from everyone else," she answered, closing her eyes again. "_Serenity_ mourns too. For her pilot and her priest. Just so you know."

"Is that a fact?" Mal asked, not sure how to reply to that.

"It's true, but not a fact," River replied. Mal definitely didn't know what that meant.

"Are you...do you hear anything from Dani?" he asked, wondering if he had the right to ask this.

"I do," she replied, but didn't offer anything.

"Can you tell me anything about her?" he asked, feeling strange, like he was crossing a line, like he didn't actually have a right to be asking this of River, about Dani. He shook the idea out of his head. He was just getting necessary information, he told himself, justifying. He needed to know more about Dani, and the potential threat she posed to his crew. And to himself. He waited for a few beats, but it didn't look like the Reader was going to tell him anything.

"She's like you," River said unexpectedly. "She brings trouble, or it follows her, I'm not sure which." Mal wished River would just tell him something, instead of cryptic messages. River eyed him with a smile, and he was sure she'd read his mind. "I did," she said simply.

"You cut that out, now," Mal said, pointing his finger at her. "Get outta my head, and stay out. My thoughts are my own." She rose into a sitting position, sat with legs crossed and a straight back, and observed him carefully.

"Yet you would have me intrude on Dani's, so you would know her thoughts as well as she?" River questioned him. "Such hypocrisy, something you hate."

"I only want to know a bit more about her, if I can trust her is all," Mal justified, feeling slightly admonished by the girl.

"You're asking me if you can trust a thief," River stated blandly, so Mal wasn't sure if she was mocking him or not. He had a feeling she was. "The answer to the question lies in whether she can trust you or not." Here River glared at him meaningfully, as if to ask him how he could expect to be trusted by someone whose head he was trying to get into without permission. He refused to be cowed by her, and looked steadily back at her. River let out a sigh, relaxed in her posture, and then her eyes went...clear. As if a fog was being lifted from her mind and Mal had a feeling that if Simon could figure out a way to keep her eyes clear like that all the time she'd be perfectly sane.

He noticed that her lips were moving quickly, as if she were speaking, but although he listened intently, he heard nothing. What was probably the most eerie about the whole experience was how still River was, as if she were barely breathing. Then, with suddenness, it was over and River straightened up and breathed in slowly. Then she was holding her head and wincing in pain. He rushed over to her and knelt down beside her.

"River, are you alright? You'd better be," he asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder uncertainly. She nodded and blinked back tears. "What happened?"

"Hurts to do it with intent, focused on only one person," she said, rubbing her nose. Her hand came away bloody. "I gave myself a nose bleed." Mal took out his handkerchief and held it against her nose to staunch the flow. He noticed that her eyes were still bright and clear.

"Did you know it was going to do that?" he asked.

"I had my predictions, and now I know."

"I'm sorry, River. If I'd known it would hurt you, I wouldn't have asked."He straightened up. "You should go lie down, or have some water or eat something."

She removed the handkerchief from her nose, and smiled up at him. "It's okay, it's better now." She held out a hand, which he took and pulled her up. "Aren't you going to ask me if I found out anything?"

Mal blinked. "Did you?"

"She's searching for someone important to her, I couldn't tell who, someone male, I think. She's trapped, and hates where she is, but can't escape Julius' clutches." As she spoke, Mal watched her eyes slowly cloud over. She appeared to be trying to fight it. "She feels strongly for you, but fights it. She fears for her life, and yours, if you get involved." She closed her eyes, and when she opened them, they were as they had been before. "It's gone," she whispered sadly, speaking of her lapse of lucidity.

Mal nodded. "I know. I'm sorry." He patted her shoulder.

"I've never done that before, purposely," River said. "Never pried into another's mind, it usually just happens by pieces of a puzzle floating in and clicking into place." She looked at him squarely. "I don't know if I did it right."

At first, Mal wasn't sure what she meant, but then it dawned on him. What if River had gone in and torn Dani's mind apart? He stared at her, open-mouthed. He couldn't believe he'd asked her to do it, had taken such a risk with someone's mind. Then, he was running.

Once Dani was out of sight of Mal she stopped running and tucked herself into a wall; slowed down her breathing. She wasn't hiding per se, but to conceal herself from view was second nature for her. She listened carefully behind her to make sure no one was coming after her, even though she was pretty sure Mal wasn't going to chase her all over the ship. Not that she would really mind.

She wrapped her arms around herself for comfort, and to ground herself. She closed her eyes and tipped her head back against the wall she leaned against and just worked on calming down. Her breathing quickened all of a sudden, as she felt a strange, alien sensation brush over her mind, and enter it. It was strange, unwelcome, and tickled somewhat painfully. Her heart rate sped up again and she hyperventilated, not knowing what was going on. Thankfully, the strange sensation soon went away, leaving her wondering what had just happened to her. Or if she was imagining things. She was pretty sure what had just happened had been real, but since everything seemed normal she'd deal with it a bit later. Once she had calmed herself down, she detached from the wall and made her way down to the engine room.

The little mechanic, Kaylee, was underneath the spinning engine, humming a tune. She was obviously unaware that Dani was in the room with her so Dani leaned a shoulder against the doorframe and waited for her to come out. Soon enough, Kaylee came out from under the engine. When she saw Dani, she startled a little in surprise, and bumped her head on the engine.

"Sorry," Dani said apologetically, striding forward to lend her a hand to get up, "didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?" she asked, pulling her up to her feet.

"S'okay, you just startled me is all. I didn't hear you come in," Kaylee said, rubbing her head with a smile. "Did you get yourself turned around or somethin'? Cause this is just the engine room, nothin' terribly excitin' goin' on back here."

"No actually, Mal said that if you needed any help at all I could lend you a hand. I'm not very good at sitting on mine, doing nothing," Dani explained.

"Oh," Kaylee said, somewhat uncertainly. "Do you know anything about engines at all?"

"Well," Dani said, looking about herself, "I've never flown in a Firefly before, but I've been up in plenty of other ships. I haven't had any formal training or anything, but taking things apart and putting them back together used to be a hobby of mine," Dani said, failing to mention the things she was taking apart were usually items she's stolen.

"Well," Kaylee said, warming up to her, "I can always use the help, and if the Captain says it's okay, it's fine by me." Just then, something went _kerthunk!_ And Kaylee jumped to action, and started inspecting the engine again. "Long as we don't fall outta the sky."

Dani smiled, "Oh, don't worry, I won't break anything." Then, she heard something _zap!_ And she was pretty sure she knew what it was. "I think it's your electrical," she said, looking up to the ceiling until she found the hatch she was looking for. She cast around for a toolbox, which she found close to the engine that Kaylee now had her hand stuck into.

"Yeah, I think so too," she said, yanking a wire out. "Can you get up there and fix it?" she asked.

Dani nodded, grabbed a couple of tools she needed, and climbed up to the hatch where she was pretty sure the electrical was shorting. She climbed up and wedged herself between the wall and the airflow pipe, and then got to work opening the hatch.

"Kaylee!" Dani suddenly heard Mal's voice, "What in the bloody hells have you done to my ship?" Then, he was in the engine room and Dani had to fight with herself to pay attention to the task at hand.

"It's all shiny, captain," Kaylee said, with pretty much her whole head under the engine. "We're fixin' it as we speak. We are fixin' it, ain't we, Dani?" she asked, sounding slightly distressed.

Then, Dani felt Mal's gaze on her, and she forced herself not to look down at him, but to keep her focus, which was important, since she had her hands in the electrical wires at the moment. And it was hard.

"Dani! What in the hell are you doin' up there?" Mal bellowed up at her.

"I thought I'd come up here for a tea party. I'm fixin' the bloody electrical, what's it look like I'm doing?" Dani replied sarcastically.

"Dani! You're fixin' it, right?" Kaylee asked her again, sounding more panicked now. "Dani!"

"Uh huh," she replied, squinting at the wires in her hands. "Just like you said, it's shiny."

"See," Kaylee said, "I told you it was fine."

"That thump and zap didn't sound like we're fine. My ship falls outta the sky, you're fired. Do you know what you're doin' up there, Dani?" Mal asked her, worry evident in his voice.

"Yes, I know what I'm doing!" Dani replied. "Now, would you kindly shut up so I can do this? I don't know if you've noticed, but I have some live electrical wires in my hand, and would truly prefer not to electrocute myself."

It took her a few minutes to find the wire that was causing the problem. "Aha, I thought so," she said to herself, grabbing the wire strippers she had in her pocket. "Kaylee, do you have a way to shut off the power to this part I'm workin' on right now? I need to strip and cut away a couple wires."

"Uh, yeah I do. Just a sec and it'll be off," Kaylee said hurriedly, scurrying to a panel next to a hammock and pushing a couple of buttons. "You can do that quickly, right? Because I can't power off any part of _Serenity_ for too long..." Dani heard the familiar zing of live wires quiet and deaden, and then she knew they were off. She efficiently stripped and clipped a couple of wires, and then did some re-wiring. Once it was done she shut the put everything back and motioned to Kaylee to turn the power back on.

When nothing exploded or caught fire, she sighed in relief and climbed down from where she had very uncomfortably wedged herself. Then she turned and found herself, once again, face to face with Mal. The unexpected proximity to him made her heart jump.

"You fix my ship?" he asked her, looking down at her with scrutiny. Really close scrutiny. Dani wondered why he was observing her so closely.

"Well, kind of," Dani replied, spying a towel on a piece of machinery and grabbing it to wipe down her hands (which were suddenly clammy) with.

"What do you mean, kind of?" Mal asked, narrowing his brows. "What, exactly happened?"

"Well, the wiring in this thing is pretty old," Dani explained, "and it needs to be replaced...soon. What's essentially going to happen is _Serenity_'s going to fry from the inside out. I would advise that we land on the next planet with a decent shop and get her firmware and wiring updated."

Mal's jaw tightened as Dani spoke, and she could see that her words worried him. "How long will your patch job hold?" he asked, and Dani could see wheels turning in his head.

"Uh, it's hard to say," Dani said, putting one hand on her hip and scratching the back of her head with the other. "If we don't push it, we can maybe get 2 days' travel time out of it. But we need to stop somewhere soon."

"How much is it going to cost to get her firmware and wiring updated?" Kaylee asked, appearing at Mal's elbow, looking very concerned.

"More'n we can afford," Mal replied, crossing one arm and putting a hand to his chin in thought. "But we do have to see to _Serenity_, so we'll have to get the wiring done first. We'll have to get her firmware updated once we've been paid in full. We'll stop off on Dune, that's about a day and a half away from where we are now. It's pushin' it, but we'll just have to make it." He sighed tiredly. "I'll go tell the crew and we'll set our new coordinates." He clapped Dani on the shoulder, "Thank you, Dani, for gettin' her in good enough shape to keep us limpin'." He gave her one last searching look, and then he turned and left the engine room.

Dani stared after him, a feeling of despair curling around in her stomach. Mal had just looked so...beaten down. It wasn't that he was broke or anything, it was just...a tiredness. Another crappy thing to add to his list. It was just so...wrong for him to look like that. "Kaylee?" she asked the girl who still stood next to her.

"Yeah, Dani?"

"What kinds of spare parts have you got?" she asked, turning towards her.

"Not much, but some stuff. Mostly worn out pieces what's fallen off _Serenity_ that I've been able to pick up. Or parts scavenged off other ships."

"Anything useable in the least?"

"Might be, we'd have to look through it all and see," Kaylee replied thoughtfully.

"Can we do that now?" Dani asked. "I have a feelin' if we're goin' to get to Dune we'll need it." Kaylee nodded, and led her over to a storage compartment. She keyed in a password to unlock it and then opened the door. As soon as she saw it, Dani knew they weren't going to get much out of what was there. Most of it was junk, and only worth what they could melt it down into and sell. Dani immediately started pulling it all out and putting it in piles, to be used, melted down and sold, or tossed. There was a lot more in the last two piles than in the first one.

As Dani worked at sorting the pieces they had, Kaylee took pieces they were going to use and put them away in places they could easily get to them if needed, or wired them into the engine. She threw the garbage into the trash compactor and the other stuff into several boxes, based upon what they were made of. By the time that was finished, they were called to supper.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I am so so sorry about the ridiculous length of time it took me to update this. I am terrible for doing that. I just got stuck on this scene and couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it. This is what I ended up with. At some point I may go back and tweak it, but here it is. Enjoy.

Chapter 7

Dinner was uncomfortable for Dani. Everyone was tense, partly because they were still getting used to having her on board, and partly because of the sudden change in plans, to stop in at Dune to get _Serenity_ fixed. So tensions were running higher than usual. The crew kept giving her not-so-inconspicuous looks, especially Jayne, who made no effort to hide them. Dani found she preferred Jayne's straightforwardness, even if it was unwanted attention. The rest were a little more subtle about it. But the one who was making her feel uncomfortable was the Companion, Inara. Inara had been making and asking pointed, but still somehow perfectly polite, remarks and questions, making it very clear to Dani that Inara didn't trust her. Not that she blamed her, entirely.

What bothered Dani the most about Inara's obvious distrust of her was how uncomfortable it was making Mal, who was doing his best to try to eat and ignore everyone else. Dani surreptitiously stole glances at him, which she was sure Inara noticed. But she couldn't help looking at him. Her mind kept replaying their conversation earlier, how he had smelled, his warmth, how his hands had made goose bumps rise on her skin, and what those hands could do to her if she allowed it.

"So, Dani, have you been to Liandra before?" Inara asked her, thankfully taking her attention off Mal, and the wicked scenarios playing in her head.

Dani pursed her lips. "Yes, a few years ago, in fact. It's beautiful there. Or it was the last time I was there. I was thankful when Len told me that's where I was going." She mentally scolded herself after she spoke for calling Len by his first name in front of others.

"You call Mr. Julius by his first name?" Inara asked, raising her eyebrows as a gesture of surprise. Damn the woman for being so perceptive. "That's...very informal. Are you friendly with him, then?" she asked, putting a slight emphasis on the word _friendly_. Mal's fork stopped half-way to his mouth, but didn't raise his head, and Dani could tell he was listening intently for her answer.

Dani took a slow sip of her drink and swallowed, thinking over her answer, "Julius is very informal in some ways, and encourages us to call him by his first name, sometimes. But he's very formal in others. He would think it's inappropriate to be too _friendly_ with his staff," she put emphasis on the same word that Inara had, and looked at her straight in the eye, to show her she knew what was implied. And also to show that she wasn't being intimidated by her.

"I see," Inara said smoothly, taking a bite of her supper. Dani held back a sigh, she obviously wasn't going to get the upper hand with Inara.

Dani turned to her own meal, thankful that the questions seemed to be over. She was also thankful that most of the crew seemed to be satisfied with her answers to Inara's questions, and started ignoring her. Jayne was still conspicuously looking at her. She turned her head towards him, met his gaze with a smile. This was a man she could deal with far easier than a Companion. "Something I can help you with, Jayne?"

Jayne grinned and opened his mouth to speak, and Dani was sure he was going to come out with something terribly inappropriate, but only said "Ouch," when Kaylee rapped his knuckles.

"Be polite, Jayne," she scolded him, and Dani hid a smile behind her napkin.

"I was bein' polite," Jayne replied indignantly. "I was just – uhh – gonna ask her if – uh" – he seemed to be wracking his brain for something suitable to say, and finally came up with something – "I was gonna ask her if she'd like a tour of _Serenity_, if she hasn't seen her all yet."

Dani smiled. "Good save," she murmured, and he winked at her. In her periphery Dani saw Mal tense slightly. "Well, Jayne, I thank you for your kind offer, but I'm afraid there's lots to do in the engine room, and I wouldn't want to leave Kaylee stranded."

"Oh _fei hua_!" Jayne replied, "Kaylee's real _jing tsai_ with the engine."

"Even so," Dani said, taking the last bite of her supper and standing to take her dishes to the sink, "I said I'd help her and I'd feel bad if I didn't." Jayne looked slightly crestfallen at her rejection, so she added, "But I'd be happy to let you show me around once we finish for the night." Mal frowned, but didn't say anything.

"Shiny," Jayne said with a grin.

"Well, I'm going back to the engine room to do some more work," Dani said, edging towards the door. "Don't feel like you have to hurry Kaylee," she said, noticing that Kaylee was now trying to eat hurriedly, "I can handle it on my own for awhile. Go ahead and have dessert." Then, she turned and walked down the corridor to the engine room, away from people's questions and prying eyes.

Dani wasn't in the engine room for long when she heard someone coming. The footsteps were too heavy to be Kaylee, and she was pretty certain it wasn't Mal, so Dani wasn't surprised when she looked up from the piece of junk part in her hands to see Jayne standing in front of her. She smiled up at him.

"Hey Jayne," she said welcomingly, "didn't you want dessert?"

"I ate it already. I eat quick," he said, patting his stomach.

"I imagine you do."

"I brought you some, if ya want it," he said then, surprising her slightly. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded napkin, containing a somewhat squashed piece of dessert and offered it to her.

Dani smiled genuinely. "Thanks, Jayne, just put it down next to me and once I finish with this," she held up the piece in her hands, "I'll have it."

"Whatchu workin' on there?" Jayne asked her, motioning towards the pieces of metal in her hands.

"_Fei-oo_, to be honest," she replied, looking down at it critically. "And this is one of the 'good' pieces."

"If it's such junk, then why are you even botherin' to try to fix it?" Jayne asked, squatting down next to her.

"Because we... _Serenity_ needs parts," Dani replied. "And this junk is all I have to work with until we reach Dune." Jayne nodded in understanding. Dani put the piece of metal down, wiped her hands on a rag within her reach, and then took the napkin with dessert in it. Upon inspection, she came to the conclusion that it was supposed to be fudge. She tried a bite of it, experimentally, and found it to be edible. So she ate it quickly, then licked her fingers clean.

"So you're a thief." Jayne said, sort of surprising her with his straightforwardness.

"Yeah," she replied, figuring that being just as frank as Jayne would be easiest.

"So that's why you're going to Liandra, to pick up something of a valuable nature."

"Yep."

"Is it gold?"

Dani hid a smile. "No, it's not gold. Or credits. Or anything untraceable."

"Oh," he looked slightly disappointed. "That's too bad."

"Yeah," she replied with a sigh. "Would make my life a heck of a lot simpler, if all I was stealin' was credits." When Jayne looked like he was about to ask she went on, "And no, I'm not going to tell you what I'm going to Liandra to steal. Suffice it to say that it'll be a difficult job, with much stealth involved. I'll probably even get to wear my slicks."

"Slicks?"

"Very expensive tights that help me blend in. Hold my tools."

"Tights, huh? They... tight?" he asked with anticipation.

Dani chuckled. "Yep."

"Can I see 'em? Or, you in 'em?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope. They're for jobs only."

"Damn."

"Too bad for you," she teased, "cause, I don't wanna sound full of myself, but I look damn good in my slicks. Very professional."

"That's just unkind. Taunt a man with a vision of a woman in tights and not let him see it. You're a cruel woman, Dani."

"Probably not near as I ought to be," she replied, picking the piece of junk back up to inspect it again. "Thanks for bringing me dessert."

"Weren't nothin'," Jayne replied, scratching the back of his head, as if embarrassed to have been thanked for something. "You gonna sleep with Mal?" he asked, catching her off-guard again. The boldness of the question made her a laugh a little uncomfortably.

"You just come right out and say it, don't you?" she replied, trying to figure out what to say.

He shrugged, "Just easy is all."

Dani supposed it was, wished her life was so simple. "No, I'm not gonna sleep with Mal," she replied, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice.

"Wanna with me?" he dumbfounded her again.

"Um, what?" she asked, unsure of whether she'd just heard him right.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Don't get many pretty girls on board; if we do it's not for long. Gets kinda lonesome out here in the black. Get the itch. Thought maybe we could scratch that itch."

She understood his logic, she got lonely sometimes too. For the first time she looked him over carefully, decided that, if she were so inclined, using him to scratch her itch wouldn't be the worst move she'd ever make. He was handsome, in a rough and rugged sort of way. She sighed. "Kind as the offer is, I try very hard not to get too...intimate with people Julius employs. Bad business. Bad for your wallet."

"Huh, that's probably true. Too bad," Jayne said, and Dani was thankful that he didn't take her rejection personally. "So, you need help with anything?"

"You don't have any duties?"

"Nah, not really."

"Well then sure, you can grab me that pair of wire strippers over there."

Mal found himself on the way to the engine room to check on Dani, and was surprised to find Jayne in there with her. Well, not surprised exactly. It figured that Jayne would try to get friendly with the newest female on board. They were sitting on the floor, a piece of only god-knew-what in between them with their heads bowed down, nearly touching. Their close proximity set his teeth on edge.

He stopped in the doorway and watched as Jayne grabbed the tool Dani was pointing to, watched her take it and turn it on. It buzzed with electricity. "Move a couple steps back," she told Jayne and he did as she requested. She grabbed a pair of goggles and sat up on her heels, and then she touched it to whatever part she was interested in and it zapped, throwing sparks. What it also did was generate some energy, because the next thing Mal knew, Dani's body was thrown back and she hit her head on the floor, hard.

Mal ran into the engine room with a curse and pushed Jayne out of the way so he could kneel next to her. "Go get the doctor!" he ordered Jayne, who took off running, and then he turned to Dani, who was still lying motionless. He whipped the goggles off of her head to find her eyes closed. "_Hun dan_," he swore, brushing her face with his fingers. "Be okay, be okay, be okay," he murmured under his breath.

"Nnnggghh," Dani grimaced, and he sighed in relief when she opened her eyes, "ouch. What are you doing?" Which was when he noticed he still had his hands on her face; was now in fact cradling her face between his hands. And didn't want to let go.

"Just wanna make sure you don't move your head," he replied, thinking quickly. He was pretty sure that was something you were supposed to make sure of when someone suffered a head injury. "You gave yourself a pretty good bump. Gonna get the doc to check you out before we move you."

"Ugh. Unnecessary. Let me up please," she said, and made a move to get up but Mal pushed her shoulders back down.

"I want the doctor to take a look at your head before you get up and movin' about. Could have a concussion."

"I don't feel like I have a concussion."

"Well, that's often the very first sign of one."

"No it isn't. You're making that up," she argued, failing to keep a grin in check.

"Paranoid too? Definitely a concussion." Mal couldn't help but grin back at her. She rolled her eyes. "What were you muckin' about with anyhow?" Mal asked her, looking about for whatever it had been in her hands.

"Hmm? Oh, I was hoping for a live micro-chip. It was a little too live for my liking."

"What for?"

"To sell, most likely. Or trade for labour. Those chips are pretty valuable if they're still live."

"Oh... did you get it?" he asked, feeling slightly guilty to ask, since trying to get it out had injured her.

"Yep," Dani replied, and held up the zappy-tool, which had a micro-chip stuck to the end of it. She peered at it. "I'm not sure, but you should be able to trade this and a few other things I've scrounged up to at least cover the cost of labour to get _Serenity_'s wiring updated. You'll have to cover the cost of the raw materials though."

Mal goggled at her, and gripped her shoulders a bit too tightly. "You mean you found enough on board to nearly halve the bill to have _Serenity_ fixed? Are you positive?"

"Pretty nearly."

"_Hoo-tsuh_!" The money he would save would go far; feed his crew for a few weeks. "Dani I could just kiss you!" he exclaimed, pulling Dani up to hug her tightly, nearly giddy with delight. He didn't fail to notice, even in his cheerful state, how good it felt to have his arms around her, and how she seemed to fit in his arms so well. And that she hugged him back.

Dani laughed nervously. "Well, maybe you shouldn't. Possible concussion and all."

"If she has a concussion, Captain, it might be best if you didn't jostle her around quite so much," Simon's voice interrupted, startling Mal into letting Dani go.

"Right, probably not," Mal said, and made room for Simon to get close to Dani and examine her head.

"I'm pretty sure it's fine," Dani said, "I've hit my head many a time, much harder than that."

"Well still, better to be safe than sorry," Simon replied, moving some of Dani's hair so he could look at the back of her head. "Does that hurt when I put pressure there?" he asked, touching the spot she bumped.

She winced, "No."

"She's lying," Mal said quickly.

"Doesn't surprise me," Simon said knowingly, "does it hurt when I don't touch it?" Dani shook her head. "Okay, follow my pen with your eyes," he instructed, holding a pen out in front of her and moving it to the left and then to the right. "Looks good. I'm just going to check for bleeding now," he said, and examined her mouth, nose, and ears. "Okay, you look fine. You're likely going to have a bump on the back of your head so you should put some ice on it for about 20 minutes, and repeat again in two hours. I have some pain-killer for you too. You should get some rest too, and I'll come check on you in a while. Drink lots of fluids, eat if you get hungry. Let me know if you experience any blurred or double vision, or if you feel nauseous or anything unusual. Is that all clear to you?"

"Yep," Dani replied, standing up. "Ice on head, bed. Food and water. Repeat. Pretty straightforward doc, thanks."

"Good," Simon said. "Captain, maybe you could make sure she makes it to her room? Just in case she's wobbly."

"Oh, he doesn't have to trouble himself," Dani rushed to say.

"I could do that," Jayne volunteered quickly, and Mal could swear he saw a look of relief cross her face. But it was gone before he could be certain it had ever been there.

"Thank you," she said, putting a hand on Jayne's arm. Mal gritted his teeth. "But it's not a problem for me to get there myself."

"I'll take her to her room Jayne," Mal interrupted, "I'm positive there are more important things for you to be doing. The grand tour of the ship will just have to wait." Mal couldn't help the bite in his words.

"I'm fine, really," Dani began to say. "I didn't hit my head that hard."

"I'm still taking you," he said, and took her gently by the elbow and led her from the engine room. He of course noticed the doctor shaking his head with a small, understanding smile playing on his lips.

"You really didn't have to walk me to my room," Dani said to him when they were outside her door. "I'm totally –"

"Yes I did," Mal interrupted, startling her. He was feeling out of sorts, after everything that had happened...the kiss, suddenly having Dani aboard, their sexual tension, her reluctance to explore said sexual tension, _Serenity_ falling apart, seeing her and Jayne so friendly, and now she'd injured herself trying to help fix his ship, and she didn't want to let him help her back to her room. It was maddening.

"You're my cargo, and as such I have to take care that nothing happens to you, even if you won't take care of yourself. I believe you have been stressing to me how Julius is quite... particular about the shape of his...possessions. I'm just trying to make sure that I deliver you back to him in one piece. And I wonder what Julius would have to say about your newest potential conquest." He opened her door and gestured for her to go inside.

Then he looked at her face and regretted his words.

Her eyes were narrowed at him, her mouth shut, jaw clenched. A tic appeared under her left eye. "I won't take care of myself, you say?" she asked him, her voice pitched low. "Please _excuse_ me for trying to help keep your ship up in the sky. Good luck returning me to my _owner_ in one piece," she hissed, venom dripping from her voice when she said the word 'owner', "when the bloody thing is gonna fall apart any minute. And as for my potential conquest, as you call it, at the moment I have little interest in _anyone_ aboard this ship." She closed her eyes and put a hand to her forehead in pain, and Mal suddenly felt foolish and guilty for snapping at her. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, and she flinched away. "Please excuse me, Captain," she said, stepping into her room and sliding the door shut behind her.

Mal wasn't sure how they were going to make it to Dune without either the ship falling apart, or the tension causing people to break.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

They made it to Dune, thankfully. Mal hadn't seen much of Dani since their...conversation outside of her room. He kept meaning to go and apologize to her, but whenever he stopped by her room she wasn't in it. He could never seem to catch her in the engine room either, even though Kaylee made mention of her still helping out. She was also taking her meals in her room...or somewhere not in the kitchen with the rest of the crew. It was infuriating not being able to find someone who was aboard his own ship.

So he was surprised when, once they had landed, Dani came walking down the ramp with Kaylee and Jayne, a satchel slung over her shoulders.

"Where're you goin' to?" he asked her, stopping her at the foot of the ramp.

"I'm going to see the mechanic with you, to make sure he doesn't cheat you," Dani replied, her stare daring him to say no. She shifted the weight of the satchel over to her other shoulder. Mal just nodded, not sure how she could ensure such a thing, but not willing to argue with her.

When they got to the shop Jayne and Kaylee waited outside, and Dani followed him in, and stopped a few feet behind him while he spoke to the man.

"You got an opening?" Mal asked. "Cause I have a need to get my ship fixed."

"What is she?"

"Firefly Class, aught three transport."

"What's the problem?" the man asked, wiping grease-stained hands on a just as grease-stained rag. He was a big man, taller than Mal by half a foot, at least. And muscular. The tag on his coveralls read Joe.

"Gotta update the wiring."

"Lucky for you we're not too busy," he threw down the rag. "Let's talk payment first."

"I have credits, and parts to trade," Mal replied, motioning Dani to come forward and stand beside him. The man sucked in a breath.

"Ai-ya tyen-ah," he muttered, and Mal wondered what the problem was now.

"Hello, Joe." Dani replied, giving him the satchel. Then he surprised Mal, and her, by dropping the bag and grabbing her. Mal immediately went on the defensive; put a hand on his holster. But then he noticed that Dani wasn't struggling to get away, and the man, Joe, he guessed, was holding her in a big bear hug, and had lifted her feet off the ground.

She laughed, taken off-guard. "Put me down, ya brute."

"How've you been, bao-bei?" he asked, setting her down.

"Pretty well, considering."

"You finally get away from that scumbag?" Joe asked, and Mal wondered who he meant. Guessed he meant Julius.

"Unfortunately not, no."

"Then this guy workin' for him?" he asked, cocking his head towards Mal.

"He's my transport."

"Hun dan," Joe muttered, "I'm not gonna make anythin' for this, am I?"

"Of course you are, just not as much as you would usually."

"Fine," Joe sighed heavily. "You're lucky I like you." He turned back to Mal. "Well, let's go take a look."

Once Mal had shown Joe the ship and Joe started work he turned to Dani. "You wanna explain to me what that was about?"

She shrugged. "He owes me a favour. So I got you the parts you need for cheap. And he'll do it quick, 'cause he'll know I'm on a job. Knows he'll get compensation for his work."

Mal was a little bit taken aback that she would still help him, after what he'd said to her. "Well...thank you. I appreciate it."

She shrugged again. "No skin off my back." Mal opened his mouth to speak again, intending to finally apologize to her, but Jayne and Kaylee had walked up to them, and Dani turned and smiled at them. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Captain, I'm going to run to the market with Kaylee."

Mal nodded. "Fair enough. Just...don't stray too far for too long. Don't wanna be on-planet for longer'n we need to."

"Promise I won't get lost, or let anything happen to your mechanic." As if to prove her point, she slung an arm over Kaylee's shoulders, in a friendly and protective way.

Mal just nodded at them, and the two of them turned and sauntered off toward the city center. Before Jayne could take off too Mal stopped him. "Jayne. I have some things for you to pick up. You'll probably need the mule."

Dani genuinely liked Kaylee. She was a sweet girl, kind-hearted and fun to be around. And she wasn't complicated, what you saw was what you got, and it was nice for Dani to, for a short time at least, be around someone who was so straightforward.

Dani hadn't really needed anything important in the market, but Kaylee had confessed on the way that she loved to go, even if she couldn't afford to splurge much. She loved to see the wares on sale, look at all the pretties, maybe buy a trinket or two. And she loved the people.

"It's the one thing I miss, being on _Serenity_," Kaylee had admitted while they had been tinkering with the engine, "all the people and their stories. The fresh food, too," she'd added as an afterthought.

So Dani allowed Kaylee to pull her around the market, even into crowded stores where she felt claustrophobic, letting her decide where to go. She didn't even complain when Kaylee stopped to talk to people for what felt like forever, when being near strangers for any lengthy period of time made Dani's skin itch. She even only palmed a couple of things, really only for the practice.

Kaylee made some purchases, all things that were either necessity or practical. But there was a music box that had caught her eye, and she kept returning to the store to look longingly at it. They were on their way back to the ship and as they passed the shop Kaylee slowed down again to look at it.

It was a pretty thing, a rose-coloured egg that stood on four gold legs. Upon closer inspection Dani saw that it was inlaid with gold. The top opened up and inside a tiny dancing ballerina spun around. The box played a loop of three classical tunes. Dani could tell that it was expensive; she used to steal things similar to this. Plus, it was behind a glass case.

"It's so pretty," Kaylee murmured longingly, tracing her finger down the glass. A saleswoman, who had watched them each time they'd come by, walked over, a fake salesperson smile on her face.

"I've seen you looking at this for a while," she said to Kaylee, "A gorgeous piece, isn't it? And really, a steal for only 1100 credits." Dani bit her tongue to keep herself from saying anything about it being overpriced. Way overpriced.

"It is beautiful," Kaylee agreed, "I just wish I could afford it."

"Oh," the woman huffed out, obviously upset over not making a sale, "well, perhaps someday, dear." She looked around, and then, even though there were no other potential customers around, said, "excuse me," and walked off.

Kaylee looked at the egg one last time and then turned away with a sigh. Dani watched her walk away, turning from Kaylee to the egg and back again a few times before shaking her head and following.

When they got back to the ship, it was nearly finished. Joe told her it would be another half hour yet. Dani helped Kaylee bring her shopping in, and then slipped off the ship and back to the market while Kaylee asked Joe about what he was doing to _Serenity_. She found herself perched on top of the building across from the shop with the music box. She wanted to get it for her. She knew she could probably just steal the thing, in fact, there was no probably about it. The security in the store was lax, there was a camera, but Dani was fairly certain it wasn't actually hooked up to anything.

The only thing that kept her from stealing it was the fact that she was pretty certain that Kaylee wouldn't take it if she stole it. In fact, Dani was confident that Kaylee would bring the stupid thing back, and then probably get thrown in jail for theft. So, after much deliberation, Dani got down and walked into the store.

The same saleswoman walked up to her. "You've come back," she said with the same fake sales smile from before.

"Yes," Dani replied. "For the egg."

"I thought so. For your friend?" she asked. Dani nodded. "You're a very kind person," she said, "to buy a friend such an item." Dani swore she could hear the word 'overpriced' coming from the woman.

"I'll take it," she said, "for 500 credits."

The woman blinked at her. "Oh, dear, I think you misunderstand. We don't haggle prices here."

"Yes you do," Dani replied coolly. "You and I both know that egg is not worth 1100 credits."

"Oh, but it is," the woman insisted. "You can see that's real gold inlay, and it's a hand-crafted piece."

"That's gold plating. And I'll concede the egg is hand-made. But still not worth 1100 credits. It's not even worth 500 credits, but I'll give those to you so everyone involved makes their share."

"You jest. That wouldn't even cover the buying costs."

"Lady, that piece was fenced." Dani knew she'd struck a nerve when the woman's face went red. "You think I can't tell a shop that sells stolen items? You're just lucky I haven't gone to the authorities. Now, give me the egg, and I'll give you 200 credits, and we'll call it square."

"You said 500 credits," the woman argued.

Dani smiled, "See, I knew you haggled here. The discount is for wasting my time arguing with me about the egg's worth."

"450 credits, then," she said, tapping her fingers on glass.

"250."

"300."

"Fine."

The woman exhaled a sigh, and then got the egg out and wrapped it up. Dani dug in her pocket and handed her a wad of credits, and took the bag. Then she turned and walked out of the store. Once she was out of sight, she loped back to the ship. She could see that Joe had finished, and it was about ready to take off. A lone figure was standing on the plank, and Dani was pretty sure it was Mal.

She was right.

"Got all your shopping done?" Mal asked her, gesturing to the bag.

"Yeah," Dani replied, striding past him without looking at him. He grabbed her arm. His touch made her jump; it felt like a buzz of electricity ran up her arm.

"Dani, wait." She stopped and looked at his hand on her arm until he let go. He ushered her inside the ship, but she still refused to meet his eyes. "I have things to say to you. Have wanted to say to you, but you've been avoiding me, and would you please look at me?"

She brought her eyes up to meet his gaze, and, even though she was still angry, once their eyes met, she couldn't tear hers away from his.

"I wanted to apologize to you, about what I said to you. It wasn't kind, nor fair to you. You've done nothing wrong aboard my ship, even helped me keep her in the air, and I've repaid you by sayin' things I oughtn't. I'm sorry." He searched her gaze, waiting for her response.

Dani was a bit taken aback at his apology, and all of her anger at him quickly dissipated. She tried to cling to it, because being angry at Mal was easier than acknowledging her desire for him, made it easier for her to not act on those desires. But the anger was gone. Her mouth parted slightly, and she was sure that she had been about to accept the apology, but when she opened her mouth, Mal's gaze had darted to her lips, and his eyes darkened, making her mouth suddenly go dry.

"We clear to take off, sir?" Zoe's voice startled them both, and Dani nearly jumped out of her skin. She hadn't even heard her approach. Not good. She put some much needed space between her and Mal. Being too close to him made her senses reel, and that was dangerous in her line of work.

"Far as I know we're clear to go Zoe. Give River the instruction to take off," Mal replied, moving his gaze from Dani to Zoe. Dani took the opportunity to get farther away from him.

She stopped in the doorway to turn back towards him. She cleared her throat, "Thank you," she said, and Mal immediately turned towards her again, "Captain, for the apology." She could think of nothing else to say, so she turned and strode quickly down the hall and to the semi-privacy of her room.

Dani felt the familiar rumbles of the ship taking off, and was relieved not to feel any strange vibrations coming from the engines. She sighed in relief. She was just putting some things away, and was taking a case out from under her bed when she heard footsteps outside her door, and a knock. "Come in," she called. When she turned around it was Kaylee, and she grinned at her in welcome.

"I just wanted to come and say thanks for comin' to the market with me today," Kaylee said thankfully. "The boys ain't much for shoppin' with me, when we're on-planet."

"No problem, Kaylee. Does everything look good in the engine room?"

"Yeah, it looks like your Joe knew what he was doin'," Kaylee said, grinning.

"Good to know he still does good work," Dani replied.

"Well, I'm headed to the kitchen to get started on supper. You wanna come with? Or do you have important thief things to do?" she asked, gesturing to the black case that was now sitting on her bed.

"I do have some work to do, actually. I've sort of been putting it off, been pretty busy with you in the engine room. Sorry."

"That's okay," she shrugged. "I'll come get you when it's ready," Kaylee said, turning to leave.

"Oh, Kaylee, before you go," Dani said, and Kaylee stopped. "I got you something, from the market." Dani reached down the other side of the bed and pulled the music box out of its bag.

"You didn't have to get me any-" Kaylee started to say, but stopped speaking when she saw the music box in Dani's hand. "Oh...my!" her hand went up to cover her mouth and her gaze flew to Dani's, and Dani was surprised to see she had tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Kaylee, I didn't want to upset you," she began, "but I just saw that you wanted it so much and thought that..." she trailed off, at a loss. She hadn't even stopped to consider whether or not Kaylee would want to accept a gift from her.

"I'm not upset," Kaylee said, uncovering her mouth. "I'm really, really not upset. You went back and got me the music box?"

"Yep," she replied, and almost dropped it when Kaylee rushed her and enveloped her in a hug.

"Thank you so much Dani!" she exclaimed, hugging her tightly. "I can't believe you went back and got it for me."

"It was no problem, Kaylee," Dani replied, returning the hug a bit awkwardly.

Kaylee pulled back and Dani held it out for her to take. Kaylee took it, tears still in her eyes. "Sorry," she said, dashing them away with the back of her hand. "I don't usually get presents from...well, anyone, actually." She sniffed, and then smiled broadly. "Thank you, again."

"It was no problem, again," Dani replied. "Enjoy it."

"I will, I'm going to listen to it while I get supper ready," Kaylee said, cradling it against her chest. "I'm gonna go and get started, and leave you to your important thieving stuff. See you in a bit," she turned and hurried out of the room. Dani watched after her for a moment, before sitting down, cross-legged, on her bed and opening her case.


End file.
